One piece double rail anchor



June so, 1970 F. w. HOLST EIN ONE PIECE DOUBLE RAIL ANCHOR 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Fiied Oct. 16, 1968 FREDERICK l4! HOLSTE/A/ I ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent ice 3,517,883 ONE PIECE DOUBLE RAIL ANCHORFrederick William Holstein, Verona, Pa., assignor to Woodings-VeronaTool Works, Verona, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Oct. 16,1968, Ser. No. 767,957 Int. Cl. E01b 9/48 U.S. Cl. 238-346 ClaimsABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A rail anchor for a concrete tie has a pairof laterally spaced rail clamps for overlying the opposite sides of arail base between them, and a plate below the clamps and integral withthem for spanning the space between them to form a seat for the rail.The clamps and the underlying portions of the plate are provided withpairs of vertically aligned openings for receiving anchor bolts embeddedin the supporting cross tie. Serrations on the bottom of the plateengageable by teeth on rings on the bolts allow the plate to be lockedin longitudinally adjusted positions.

Rail base clamps, which are held in place by anchor bolts extending downthrough them and into the underlying ties, are in common use. Some ofthese clamps engage the edges of the rail base to help prevent it fromshifting laterally. When used with a concrete tie, the clamps generallycan be mounted in only one position, so the rail gauge cannot beadjusted.

It is among the objects of this invention to provide a rail anchor whichis specially designed for use with a concrete tie, which has a pair ofintegrally connected rail clamps, which can be adjusted lengthwise of atie, and which will not allow the rail base to shift laterally relativeto the anchor.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which FIG. 1 is a plan view;

FIG. 2 is a side view and longitudinal section;

FIG. 3 is a cross section taken on the line IIIIII of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged plan view of one of the toothed rings in the sameposition as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2; and

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the ring shown in FIG. 4, turned 180.

Referring to FIG. 2 of the drawings, the lower ends of a pair of anchorbolts 1 are anchored in a concrete tie 2 at the opposite sides of thearea that a rail is to cross. The anchoring is done by screwing thebolts into threaded sleeves 3 which have flanges 4 at their lower ends.The sleeves are embedded in the concrete tie when it is cast. The upperends of the sleeves are located at the bottom of recesses 5 formed inthe top of the tie for a purpose to be described later.

A flat pad 6 of suitable material may be placed on the tie, the padbeing provided above recesses 5 with large openings 7, through which theanchor bolts extend. Resting on this pad there is a rectangular metalanchor plate 8 that likewise is provided with openings 9 for the anchorbolts. The central portion of the plate between the bolts forms a seatfor a rail base 10. The rail may rest directly on the plate or beseparated from it by a strip of insulating material 11 that also extendsup past the opposite edges of the rail base and then inwardly over itfor a short distance.

To clamp the rail in place on the anchor plate, a pair of clamps 13 areprovided, one at each side of the rail. Each of these clamps is aplate-like member with an inner end portion or lip 14 that overlies theadjoining side 3,517,883 Patented June 30, 1970 of the rail base. Theouter end portions 15 of the clamps are curved downwardly and inwardlytoward each other and are integrally joined to the ends of the fiatanchor plate. The clamps therefore are continuations of the anchor plateand may be the same width. The clamps are provided with openings 16above plate openings 9 for likewise receiving the anchor bolts.Originally, the clamps are inclined inwardly and upwardly so that theirlips 14 will be spaced from the underlying rail base or the insulatingstrip 11 in case one is used. However, when nuts 17 are screwed on theupper ends of the anchor bolts and turned down, the clamps are sprungdownwardly until their lips 14 tightly engage the insulating strip. Thiswill clamp the rail on the anchor plate. In clamping po sition, theclamp bodies are substantially parallel to the underlying anchor plate8.

To help keep the rail base from shifting laterally along the anchorplate, the inner end portion of each clamp may be provided with one ormore slits or slots so that one or more tongues can be bent downwardly.Preferably, there are two such slots 20 in each clamp, located near itssides as shown in FIG. 1, so that a pair of tongues 21 are provided,with lip 14 between them. These tongues substantially engage theopposite edges of the rail base or the insulating strip and thereforeprevent the rail from moving lengthwise of the anchor plate.

In order to apply this anchor to a rail, the anchor must be slipped overthe end of the rail and then moved along it to the desired position.Usually, all of the anchors for a rail will be applied to it at the sametime and then spread out along it. Having two rail clamps integrallyconnected by an anchor plate so that they form a single unit is a greatconvenience in handling and applying the clamps.

Another feature of this invention is that the rail anchor can beadjusted lengthwise of the tie in order to adjust the spacing or gaugebetween the two rails that are mounted on each tie. This is done bymaking the openings 9 and 16 in the rail anchor in the form oflongitudinal slots so that the anchor and rail can be moved lengthwiseof the tie to the proper position before the nuts are tightened on theanchor bolts. It also is highly desirable to provide means in additionto nuts 17 for locking the rail anchor in the position to which it hasbeen adjusted. This can be accomplished by providing the bottom ofanchor plate 8 beside one or both slots 9 with rows of serrations.Preferably, both sides of each slot are serrated; i.e. provided withrows of notches 23, preferably tapered both upwardly and laterally. Toengage some of these serrations, a ring 24 is mounted on each anchorbolt. The ring rests on top of the underlying sleeve 3, and the top ofthe ring engages, or nearly engages, the bottom of the overlying anchorplate at opposite sides of its slots as indicated in FIGS. 1 and 3. Thetop of the ring also is provided with parallel rows of upwardly andlaterally tapered teeth 25 that register with the serrations above themas shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. In other words, the teeth and some of theserrations are in engagement with one another to prevent longitudinalmovement of the anchor plate. To adjust the anchor along the tie, theanchor and the rail first must be lifted far enough for the bottom ofthe anchor plate to clear the top of the ring teeth. Then the anchor ismoved lengthwise to the desired position and lowered onto pad 6 again,with the ring teeth projecting up into the serrations. When nuts 17 aretightened, the anchor is locked in place.

An important feature of this invention is that the anchor is adjustablelengthwise by increments of approximately one-eighth inch. However,serrations and ring teeth formed for such small increments of movementwould not be large enough to have suflicient engagement with one anotherto securely lock the anchor in place. Therefore, the serrations arespaced on one-quarter inch centers but the teeth, which likewise are onone-quarter inch centers, are located one-sixteenth of an inch 01fcenter relative to the center line of the ring as shown in FIG. 4.Therefore, if it is desired to move the anchor lengthwise onlyone-eighth of an inch, it is raised and the underlying rings are turned180. As shown in FIG. 5, this has the effect of moving the rows of teethlengthwise oneeighth inch. The teeth then will fit in plate serrationthat have been moved only one-eighth of an inch, even though the notchesthat form the serrations are one-quarter inch apart. Of course, aone-quarter inch adjustment, or a multiple thereof, can be obtainedwithout turning the rings. Whatever the extent of the adjustment theinterengaging ring teeth and anchor plate serrations will hold the platesecurely in place.

I claim:

1. A rail anchor for use with a concrete tie, comprising a pair oflaterally spaced plate-like rail clamps having inner end portionsadapted to overlie the opposite sides of the base of a rail betweenthem, the outer end portions of the clamps curving downwardly andinwardly toward each other, an anchor plate below the clamps andspanning the space between them to form a seat for a rail base, theplate being integrally connected to the lower ends of said curved outerend portions of the clamps, each of said clamps and the underlyingportion of said plate being provided with a pair of vertically alignedslots extending lengthwise of the anchor plate for receiving an anchorbolt, the bottom of said plate at opposite sides of a plate slot beingprovided with rows of serrations, and a ring adapted to be mounted on ananchor bolt and having upwardly projecting teeth registerable with someof said serrations to lock said plate in place.

2. A rail anchor according to claim 1, in which said ring is rotatableand its teeth are 011 center a distance equal to one-quarter of thedistance between the peaks of adjoining teeth, whereby upon rotation ofthe ring 180 the anchor plate can be moved lengthwise a minimum ofone-half the distance between said peaks.

3. A rail anchor according to claim 1, including an anchor boltextending through each of said pairs of slots,

a sleeve threaded on the lower portion of each bolt and adapted to beanchored in a concrete tie, one of said rings mounted on each boltsubstantially in engagement with the upper end of its sleeve and thebottom of said plate, and means on the upper ends of the bolts forpressing said clamps downwardly and pressing the anchor plate againstsaid rings.

4. A rail anchor according to claim 3, in which said rings are rotatableand their teeth are off center a distance equal to one-quarter of thedistance between the peaks of adjoining teeth.

5. A rail anchor according to claim 4, in which each clamp hasdownturned tongues beside its inner end portion to restrain lateralmovement of a rail base on said anchor plate.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 746,918 12/ 1903 Bline 23 83001,031,938 7/1912 Kummer 238300 1,465,324 8/1923 Wilke 238305 1,512,08610/1924 Finley et al. 238305 1,579,157 3/1926 Singelary 238305 1,881,93710/1932 Preston 238305 1,887,457 11/1932 McGreW 238338 2,426,137 8/ 1947Asselin 238338 3,358,927 12/1967 Hein et al 238338 3,436,018 4/ 1969Alexander 23 8349 3,476,317 11/1969 Gassner 238349 1,005,390 10/1911Will 238--346 1,082,433 12/ 1913 Miller 238346 1,132,354 3/1915 Kirch238346 1,550,584 8/1925 Snyder 238346 2,579,373 12/1951 Edee 2383463,206,123 9/1965 Baker 23 8349 3,282,506 11/ 1966 Holstein 238349 ARTHURL. LA POINT, Primary Examiner R. A. BERTSCH, Assistant Examiner U.S. Cl.X.R.

